Page 3 of Never Say Never
I pipe up again, trying to stay in the moment.
“Yeah, Landon’s the best big brother. I’ve given him a headache or three, but he’s really paving the way, showing what’s possible.”
They laugh at my headache joke.Well, it’s funnyandtrue.
Jaden then switches expressions, a serious look settling in.
“Now, Rawley, I hate to go here”—fuck, it’s money time, isn’t it—“but there have been unflattering accounts of your off-field behavior. A photograph published inFirst and Tenhas invited some questions. What do you want to say about all of that?”
A video monitor to my right shows what’s being broadcasted by the network, and now it’s filled by the article in question. Blown up big.
RAWLEY BATTLE—UNLIMITED PROMISE OR HUGE LIABILITY?
The words below the headline are too small to read on the screen, but the now-notorious photo…fuck, there it is.
Surrounded by random UT students at a darkly lit party, I have on a droopy-looking expression. Definitely looking high, even though I’m not. There was nothing remarkable about that night, and all I had was beer. It’s just a shitty pic.
But then the leading e-magazine in pro football decided to do an “exposé” on the “top wide-receiver prospect this year,” and the rest is fucking history.
My mind starts spinning out and my chest tightens as I stare at the article that’s taken over the broadcast screen.
I can’t quite grasp the words,the script, I’m supposed to repeat.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, everyone is looking at me…
I need to answer.
“Well, all I can say is I love football. I would never do anything to jeopardize playing or hurt my team. Being in the NFL is my lifelong dream.”
Jalen nods, but his eyes look uncertain. He stays quiet, leaving me space to say more.
However, it’s Landon who fills the silence, praising my dedication to the sport again.
Then my mind snaps back. Oh crap,nowI remember what I was supposed to say. A line that denies my lifestyle is as portrayed inFirst and Ten, along some other details that Jim suggested I add in.
Though we can’t straight-up say that I haven’t gotten highever, or anything like that.
Because that wouldn’t be true.
Rawley Battle: causing everyone problems since he was fifteen.
The moment has passed in the interview for me to straighten things out on this topic though. Landon’s answering a question about the Waves’ season, and I can see from the timer on one of the cameras that we only have two minutes to go.
Jalen pivots to me, asking whether the single-season reception record at UT is a goal. I came really close last year, but I give the politically correct answer about how my focus is on the team’s success.
Soon he’s signing off on the interview, throwing it back to the studio guys, and the red lights blink off.
“You did good,” Landon says, tapping me on the leg. His expression is tight, however—I know he’s thinking about the response,the most important response, that I did not nail.
“I got off-track,” I say in a low voice so only he can hear. “I didn’t deny the stuff from the article.”
He gives me a small smile. “Hopefully people missed that.”
But, as we’d find out in the next few months of media coverage, when I had my best year at UT, yet the talking heads focused on debating my character instead of on my play…
No one missed it.
TEN-ISH MONTHS LATER
